Flexible drive shaft



Aug. 17, 1937. w. F. ALBRIGHT FLEXIBLE DRIVE SHAFT Filed Aug. 7, 1955 INVENTOR Patented Aug. 17, 1937 Unir stares maant PATENT orrls 2,090,174 FLEXIBLE DRIVE SHAFT William Fredrick Albright, Pittsburgh, ra., Application August 7, 1935., Serial No. 35,157

2 Claims.

My invention relates to flexible drive shafts and is hereinafter described as especially suitable for use in connection with tube cleaners and the like, such as are employed in the removal of scale from tubes of boilers, condensers, stills, water lines, gas lines, and from milk pipes, and other receptacles in dairy plants, etc.

It will be understood, of course, that various features of the invention are capable of use in l0 connection with various other types of apparatus.

One object of my invention is tov provide a flexible drive shaft structure with an improved manner of directing water or other liquid therethrough, which liquid may serve not only to lubricate the shaft bearings, but also as a flushing or cleaning medium.

Another object of my invention is to provide a structure embodying a flexible drive shaft and cleaning element of such form that the cleaning tool can be readily manipulated and conveniently permit of its being brought into engagement with variously-disposed surfaces to be cleaned.

One form which my invention may take is shown in the accompanying drawing wherein Figure 1 is a side view thereof; Fig. 2 is a broken sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of the structure of Fig. l; Fig. 3 is a view, on a still further enlarged scale, taken on the line III-III of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the structure of Fig. 3.

The structure includes a motor casing 6 which may be driven electrically or otherwise, and is provided with a motor shaft l. A bearing housing or bushing member 8 is secured to an extension of the motor casing by set screws 8a, and a bearing bushing 9 has screw-threaded engagement with the housing 8. Ball races I I3 are rigidly secured to the members and 9 by press t or otherwise, and carry a shaft I I, the inner end of which has driving connection with the motor shaft 1. The driven shaft together with the bearing members can be separated from the motor shaft 'I simply by loosening the set screws which connect the housing 8 to the motor casing. An annular flange or shoulder I I a formed on the shaft I I has thrust engagement with the two parts of the bearing I, to thereby hold the shaft against shifting axially either when in use or when the drive is detached from a motor. 'Ihis arrangement insures better maintenance of a fluid-tight seal at the stung box hereinafter referred to, and hence reduces danger of leakage along the shaft.

A T I2, provided with a stuffing box I3, has

threaded engagement with the bushing 9, the

' to the motor.

stufng box serving to prevent leakageof water A packing gland I 3a is engaged-by the adjacent end of the bushing member 9 and serves to effectively compress the packing in the Astuffing box when the members 9 and I2 'are' 5 screwed together. The'T I2 Ais provided with an inlet stem I4 through which water or other liquid may enter `from a hose or other means of supply and flow through a shaft casing I 5 `that may suitably be of armored or vreinforced rubber, and 10 which is" readily flexible. The casing I5 is connected to the T I2 bya'hose clamp I6.

A flexible drive shaft Il, which may be in the form of a wire rope or other suitable material, is securely fastened at one end to the shaft I I. At l5 suitable distances apart, the shaft II is provided with metal bushings I8 that have snug iit with the shaft so that they will turn therewith. Metal collars I9 surround the sleeves I8 and are of slightly less diameter than the internal diam- 20 eter of the casing I5, as shown more clearly in Fig. 4, so as to permit flow of water toward the front of the casing I5, the water serving to also lubricate the bearings at I9. To insure adequate flow of flushing water, I may provide holes or 25 passageways Ida in the collars I9.

The collars I9 are loose on the sleeves I8, and serve as bearings therefor and as spacers to prevent rubbing of the shaft and the sleeves against the casing I5. Thev peripheral surfaces of the collars are curved also in the direction of their axes, so that they will not interfere with the flexing of the casing I5. A sufficient number of sleeves I8 and collars I9 will be provided to prevent excessive whipping of the shaft I'I and to 35 prevent rubbing of the shaft on the casing wall, even when the casing I5 is bent. The flared ends of the sleeves I8 facilitate bending of the shaft I 'I with less danger of binding or abrasion thereof in its bearings.

The shaft Il near its front end is rigidly connected to a tubular shaft member 2I that is provided with holes 22 near its rear end to permit entry of water from the shaft casing I5. At its forward end, the shaft 2I is connected to a stock 45 23 which carries brushes or other cleaning elements 24 that may be of various forms such as those shown, for example, in my Patent No. 1,978,853, issued October 30, 1934, and my patent` applicationV Serial No. 751,849, led November 7, 50 1934.

A tube 25 is threaded into the base of the stock 23 and receives water which passes through the shaft member 2l, the water eventually being discharged from openings in the front portion of 55 cleaning'head 24, as in my Vily inserted into various locations which are ory. dinarily diicult of access with tube cleaners of the usual type, and while the cleaning head 241 i: is being rotated and water supplied thereto., Q

I claim as my invention:-

1. Driving mechanism comprising a bearing bushing formed in axially-separablel sections, means for connecting the bushing to the bearingof a main drive shaft, a second drive .shaft supported in said bushing and having an annular shoulder, means for detachably connecting the second shaft to the first-named shaft, a two-part bearing for the second shaft, each part mounted in one of the bushing elements, and the said shoulderbeing disposed between said bearing parts, a hollow T element having its one branch serving as a fluid inlet, means connecting a second branch of the T to the bushing,

a stuffing box in said branch and surrounding the second-named shaft, a flexible shaft extend- The stock 23 will, of course,

screwed together.

ing through the third branch of the T with clearance sufficient to permit flow of fluid through said branch and having connection with the second-named shaft, and a flexible casing surrounding the flexible shaft and connected at its rear end to the third branch of the T.

2. Driving mechanism comprising a bearing bushing, means for connecting the bushing to the bearing of a main drive shaft, a second drive lshaft supported in said bushing, means for devtachably connecting the second shaft to the first-named shaft, a bearing for the second shaft,

having an annular recess intermediate its ends, a shoulder on the shaft, tting Within said recess, to prevent longitudinal movement of the shaft, in said bushing, a hollow T element having its one branch serving as a fluid inlet, means connecting a second branch of the T to the bushing, a stuffing box in said branch and surrounding the second-named shaft, a flexible shaft extending through the third branch of the T with clearance sufficient to permit flow of fluid .through said branch and having connection with the second-named shaft, and a flexible casing surrounding the flexible shaft and connected ats its rear end to the third branch of the T, the

said bushing having screw threaded connection with the T and arranged to compress the packing in the stuffing box when the parts are WILLIAM F. ALBRIGHT. 

